Travel Thoughts and Travel Guides

Puerto Princesa, Palawan

When we were checking for accommodations in Puerto Princesa, one of our criterias was to be near a beach. Preferably beachfront. Another criteria was to be away from the busy buzz of the city but not that far away just in case we wanted to do something in the city. That was when we decided to stay in Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. A bit higher than the usual rates compared to budget hotels and backpacker lodge but definitely worth the price.

On my frequent visits to Puerto Princesa I am always looking for a clean, comfortable and accessible place to stay. Usually, I would go for a budget accommodation that has a lower quality, common CR and only has a fan room, but whenever I have an tiny amount of extra budget I would prefer staying at Go Hotels in Puerto Princesa. A hotel with good quality but does not break the bank.

Here are most of the things that I like and dislike about Go Hotels Puerto Princesa.

1. Location, Location, Location

Go Hotels is located near Robinsons Mall. Very convenient if I need to buy toiletries, medicine and some other stuff needed for traveling. There are also restaurants just in case you get hungry. Movies too. Mall hours is 10AM to 9PM.

It is also located near the transport terminal in San Jose where you can ride buses and vans going to El Nido, San Vicente, Rio Tuba, Quezon and many other places in mainland Palawan. To get to the transport terminal from Go Hotels just walk to the highway and ride the a tricycle or multicab heading to New Market (10 Pesos/person). Travel time is 5 minutes.

We wanted to explore Baywalk, the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral and Plaza Cuartel but we were doubtful if we should go or not since it was around 5:30 PM in the afternoon. We may not have enough time to explore these places due to poor sunlight but thinking of doing nothing for the whole day did not go well with us.

While we were on the van on our way to the Underground River our tour guide told us that we will be doing a sidetrip to Ugong Rock Adventure. Remembering that we had lots of fun on my visit there last October 2010, I wanted to try it again and see the changes. Good thing I brought a generous amount of extra cash.

8:33 AM. Our van arrived at Ugong Rock Adventure. We first took photos with the large sign and we were guided to the briefing area.

In the briefing area we listened to what Ugong Rock Adventure was all about. It was a community based tourism which helps build work for people in Brgy. Tagabinet, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan. What really struck me is their motto “Nag-enjoy ka na. Nakatulong ka pa.” Roughly translated to “You already enjoyed, you even helped.”

They also told us that if we availed of the Ugong Rock, we had an option to do the Zipline going down.

We arrived at Sabang for our Underground River Tour a little bit late so we got a queue number that would makenus wait for a significant amount of time. Our guide suggested that instead we bore ourselves to death, we could actually do some sidetrips in Sabang. We targetted the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour and Sabang X Zipline.

We rode again the van then back on the road and turned right to a guarded gate. I already done the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour before (read here) and this is my first time riding a van to get there that’s why the gate is a surprise to me. It says on the gate that we would need to pay a fee for us to pass by (I forgot how much was it.) Our group paid the fee since we will be passing by the private road. We reached the road parallel to the shore of Sabang and the van turned onto another gate which we need to pay another 10 Pesos/person except when your are doing the Sabang X Zipline. Since we were passing by private properties we had to respect the owner’s decision to use their facility for a fee.

Finally we arrived at the starting point for the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour. Some of us decided to do the Sabang X Zipline (550 Pesos/person), while we decided to do the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour.

10:49 AM – We registered, paid the fee of 350 Pesos/person, then given our lifevests and were guided to where we will ride their paddle boat.

When we were on the boat they first fetched umbrellas so that the sunlight would not be too much for us. They did not have this on my first visit to the Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour.

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